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Cobar Concentration Camp
The Cobar Concentration Camp was a Mobian military prison that was established during the Great War in the 3220s. During the war, Overlander soldiers that were captured by the Royal military would be sent to Cobar as Prisoners of War (POWs). Cobar was a mark of Mobian cruelty that still stands today as a learning experience for all those who see it. History The Cobar Military Internment Center was established by Mobian General Tullius Lionheart in 3219 at the very beginning of the Great War. The location of the camp was kept extremely secret during its construction. Even the workers who built the camp were led to believe that it was a secret military training ground that was for special forces. Upon the completion of the camp, all traces of Cobar disappeared from Knothole military, architectural, and economic databases. When the war finally did kick off during that year, the camp was getting ready for its new tennants. Military staff were able to analyze Overlander battle strategies and qualified psychologists were able to understand how they coped with battle. When the first Overlander prisoner, Private Auxilluary Piter Veers crossed Cobar's threshold, the staff gave the impression that Veers would be treated exceptionally to lull him into a false sense of security before the real internment began. Veers was a test run, a case to see how far a person could be pushed after suffering battlefield trauma. After five weeks of 'testing', Veers died through means not disclosed even in top-secret military reports. By this time though, more prisoners that were captured in battle were brought to Cobar. They were used as general labor to make weapon parts and ammunition. Their primary means of being there though was for extraction of strategies and secrets. The Knothole government used methods that ranged from tame to inhumane: Hypersuggestion, Threats, Psychological Warfare, and in some cases, outright torture. Any further additions made to Cobar were constructed mainly by the inmates while being overseen by the staff. A stipulation used by the internment center staff was that the inmates would build additions without much more than prison jumpsuits. Three additions were built with one hundred Overlander interns constructing through all means of weather. Horror stories of a hidden camp sprung up on both sides of the war. To the Mobians, it was a myth. Many in both the military and public simply thought of it as a smear tactic used by the enemy to make people doubt their own government. To the Overlanders, it was a boogeyman story. It was a story that many thought was rediculous, but left a deep-set feeling of horror. Many Overlanders believed that the Mobians would never think of being so cruel, which made the story of the torture camp exponentially more horrifying. At its height, the Cobar Military Internment Center saw over five hundred Overlander military troopers walk through the gates. Of those 500, 150 would never walk out; they were cremated and buried in small containers carrying their ashes. The highest ranked Overlander that was interned in Cobar was Major Alexander Dessedius, who entered Cobar in 3222, but died in January of 3223 due to pneumonia. Cobar's horrifying and mythical reputation would continue to build up until the war's end in 3224, which was when the camp was legally 'decommissioned'. Upon the Overlanders' surrender, all prisoners were directly transported back to the last remaining units of their military where they were gathered with the survivors and shipped off-world with the surviving Terra Novan colonial ships. Naturally the former prisoners spoke, but nobody listened to them, a final insult to the oppressed individuals trying to speak out against their unfair treatment. None of the Mobians cared to listen, and their leaders were too ashamed by their defeat to do anything about it. Cobar still stands to this day, still in its secret location with all of its files virtually nonexistant. All that did exist was the reputation of the ghost camp, and the restless spirits of the dead Overlanders serve as reminders to Mobians that everyone has the capacity for cruelty. Effect on Mobian Society Officially, Cobar didn't exist as far as the public was aware. Despite the fact that it was not acknowledged by the government, the mere thought that such a place existed was something that Mobians were not willing to acknowledge. They were even ashamed to think of the possibility that such a place even existed in the first place. The reason for this was because throughout the Mobians' history, they believed that they were 'morally superior' to the Overlanders whom they viewed as cruel compared to themselves. Mobians believed that they were above torture and above using such blunt methods to gain the upper hand over their enemies. After 3224 when the war ended to 3235, 11 years after the end of the war, information got out. People learned about the camp. People tried to find it thinking that they could get a real answer to the rumors. However, there was nothing. The Cobar Concentration Camp was as much a ghost as the men who died within it. Though there was not as much distrust in the government that the creators if the camp believed. Unintentionally, the Kingdom of Acorn's citizens shifted their anger to Doctor Julian Kintobor through his coup. The anger was reflected towards themselves. It was a moral disappointment. The mere existence of Cobar showed that Mobians were not morally superior. The stories that were told showed that they were just as fallable, just as flawed, just as cruel as the Overlanders they sought to demonize. Even after 11 years of knowing this information, it was something that many people would want to refuse to acknowledge. Cobar represents a dark spot in Mobian society. It represents a part of society that the Mobians sought to avoid and bury. It was a spot that is present in every civilization that rose and fell: evil. Those who knew their Earth history were especially racked since the mere existence of Cobar reminded scholars of Nazi concentration camps where Jews were herded and killed. Whether Cobar was a mistake or not has been debated since it was publically acknowledged. Many considered is an abomination and a palce of nothing but pure evil. However, if some surviving reports were to be believed, the information that was gleamed from the camp may have actually contributed to the war effort. This led to a disturbing thought: could some of the Royal Military's greatest victories have been the result of coldblooded torture? No answer has been reached and will not for some time. Even if there is one, it is doubtful that it would ever be acknowledged. Behind the Scenes *Cobar was something of a decision that I did not make lightly in the course of my worldbuilding. The decision to include anything resembling a concentration camp was something I doubt anybody would have ever wanted to do, let alone put it under the control of the Mobians. The reason I decided to include something like that was because I wanted to give the Mobian society flaws. I hated the one-dimensional always good society look that they had in the comics. It also seemed a way to offset all of those attitudes in the 90s where the talking animals were always the good guys and could never do no wrong. Cobar was a chance to change all that by introducing something new - cruelty. It's the ultimate societal flaw. No society is perfect and I wanted to make sure the Mobians, at least the Chaos Chronicles Mobians were no different. Not only was it cruel, it was hidden and lied about, indicating the government knew what they were doing was wrong and wanted to hide it, lest its image be tarnished. Robotnik's coup was an excellent way to take the heat off the issue. Even years afterwards, its a mark of shame - a realization that nobody's perfect. Everybody has a skeleton in the closet. Appearances *Journal of Sally Acorn (First Appearance) *Welcome Home Category:Location Category:Mobius